I've been down this road. It's not good. Your rods will get broken in the shop and you'll be left holding the bag. Count on it. Offer to do repair which gets you a ton of real business anyway. See if they'll let you put out brochures or cards and make it worth their while. Give the owner a really nice rod per year and that might be enough to keep everybody happy. I give a ninety day warrant
Forum: rodboard

It's been two and a half weeks and about all that can be said about the BIG Expo has already been said. I will not bother to add anything about the quality of the seminars or all the product on hand. Instead I will sum up the Expo with one word..... EXCITEMENT! I do not think you can go anywhere and have this much fun and feel this kind of excitement about custom rod building. Maybe its the
Forum: rodboard

The cut ends will flatten by themselves once wrapped over. You just don't want all of them cut at the same place or same length.
Forum: rodboard

I've had some E-mails about the math in the Story Pole article in Rodmaker. The math IS correct. I tend to think of the tip top as a "guide" and should have worded things a little differently. Tom took the photos and did them differently than I would have if I was worth a darn with a camera. If you don't count the tip top as a guide, and want let's say 7 guides on the rod, divide by
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If you cannot learn how to do it from the book Rod Building Guide, then you can't learn! This is the easiest and yet most detailed work ever done on building and turning cork handles and grips. I don't even think you will find many builders who could teach you as much or as well in person, as what you'll find in that short chapter on working with cork. There are some tips there that I haven't s
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Your math is off. Please throw out your current spacing. I am not concerned with that. I do not care what the Sage spacing is. Toss it in the trash. It's worthless. Your butt guide spacing will be about 32" from the butt. That leaves 40" divided by 7 which is about 5.5." Now try again with 5.5" spacing between your story pole marks. If you will do this your spacing w
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I had to have Tom update mine.
Forum: rodboard

There is a big difference in "having a go" at somebody and simply making a person aware of the latest in proven techniques and methods. I am glad this site has more of the latter and less of the former. You can build a rod the same way it was built back in the 1940s and it will work as well now as it did then. You can also use a newer and more performance oriented method that takes a
Forum: rodboard

I am going to sidestep Emory's comments as they are not worth responding to. We all know what we have experienced when moving from shorter to longer rods in regard to setting the hook. His comments and mental experiments cannot change anything we have experienced. Instead of believing that our experiences are not real, it is more logical to believe that his mental experiments are seriously flawed
Forum: rodboard

I was the one that used the term immutable. Sorry I misspelled it. I was making a joke. The very idea that I have ever lost a fish on a hookset due to a loss of kinetic energy through heat is just silly. That is really the point here. All these things do take place but like Tom said within the realm of things we are discussing they are neither here nor there. You cannot get a hook into a fi
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Tom, Steve, Bill, Jeff, Ken and Tim, Emory has provided hardcore evidence that you are either all lying, under the influence of drugs or have wild imaginations. Time to come clean because he has proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that your statements relating to your on the water experiences are impossible. You may all claim to have experienced more sure and solid hooksets with a longer rod bu
Forum: rodboard

As someone who also builds rods for serious tournament bass fishermen, I would advise others wanting to get into this market to pay close attention to what Rich is saying. He is on the money. Sometimes lighter is not better depending on the technique being used. Each rod must be taylored to the job required and this means that sometimes there are things more important than weight and that the sen
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The proof is in the pudding. The forums that are the most open, honest, friendly and helpful will get most of the traffic. The ones that aren’t open, honest, friendly and helpful will get very little traffic. Rod builders will gravitate to those forums that offer them the most and best information with the least amount of hassle. The amount of traffic that this site gets is not an acc
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An article on fashioning cord handles was in RodMaker awhile back. Bob probably already has that one.
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Or you could just tell your customer that you are already using IM95 and that it will be many years before any of the factories catch up with you.
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Make sure you get spray urethane, not the brush on stuff.
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Cord. I will say it again, Cord. Nylon twine or cord in any color that suits you. Firm and durable. Put a mushroom cap on top with a lanyard from it and you will have as nice a walking stick as you could ever buy.
Forum: rodboard

If you have CG1 cork, you do NOT have anything to fill. Trust me. All you are going to do is ruin some very good cork. Cork of that grade doesn't have pits or holes large enough to need filling.
Forum: rodboard

There is a mistake in Russ’ statement. The lighter rod will be harder to move. Fact. Because it will be stiffer. The rod overloaded with heavy guides will end up being softer. The rod that is heavily loaded with guides or whatever will be easier to move due to the momentum involved. It’s already trying to move due to the extra weight “pulling” on it. I’m not saying that is what yo
Forum: rodboard

The butt doesn't need to come back any farther than under your forearm or elbow at the most. The rear grip should fill the hand but no more than that.
Forum: rodboard

If you should get an E-mail concerning this post from someone under the address "gigmassa" that is from Chris Karp. As far as I know he has never done anything for anybody and would he never print thousands of decals and give them away to thousands of rod builders for free. But he seems to have a problem with other people's generousity and helpfulness. Just FYI. Consider the source.
Forum: rodboard

A customer of mine passed this on to me and asked me about it. Looks like the symbol is making the rounds.
Forum: rodboard

I have a large stash of blanks bought at the big rod expo the last couple of years. Many of them are two piece models. I hate to do it but you have convinced me it will be worth it. I'm going to take a couple and hold them at forty five degrees to the floor. Then I'm going to hang a bucket off the tip and have water added until the blank blows up. Then you can argue with the pictures I'm going to
Forum: rodboard

Emory you are wrong on all counts. I've broken many rods in my fishing life and never once broken a multi piece rod anywhere near the ferrule. Jason Brunner designs and builds multi piece rods for the largest fishing rod company in America. How many multi piece rods have you designed or built? Just because you have not been successful in building ferrules does not mean that others have not been.
Forum: rodboard

Sandra you have to remember that when this little group harrasses and attacks Tom they are actually harassing and attacking the rod building craft as a whole. I say that because when you look at the bigger picture and count the number of people who attend and enjoy Tom's Expo event, this website, RodMaker Magazine, the RM Public Library Program and all the other things Tom has provided to the cra
Forum: rodboard

For casting lighter lures and better sensitivity, go longer. A rod 6.5 feet or even 7 feet is not too long for this type fishing.
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You will also note that there was no malice in my post. That sort of thing isn't allowed here and I wouldn't do it even if it was. My point is that Tom knows what he's doing. You needn't worry about the symbol getting widespread use or being accepted. Tom will take care of seeing that it does. Of that I have no doubt nor would anyone who knows anything about him or his magazine, website or Exp
Forum: rodboard

Owen, After you have been around in custom rod building for a few more years you will begin to understand that Tom is not only about the only person would even do something like this but in many ways the only person who COULD do something like this. I think it comes back to why his Rod Building Exposition is larger than ALL the other rod building events, conclaves, seminars and gatherings put tog
Forum: rodboard

Those who work against you are in effect working against the entire rod building craft and against all who enjoy all that you do for us. It is a pity. You might find a few guys who would piddle with designing something but I can't think of a single person or company or organization that would ever actually spend their own money to print and distribute something like this free of charge to anyo
Forum: rodboard

I will second the St. Croix 4C70MF. I'm sure there are others that will work great but I have used this one in the SCIV and find it to be really special. The SCIII in this same model would be almost as good and would be less expensive and a bit tougher. But I have not had any trouble with my SCIV and like the "purty" blue color and the very light weight it offers.
Forum: rodboard